5 April 2002 BOSTON, Mass. A federal appeals court ordered Saks Inc.'s (SKS) Saks Fifth Avenue, Filene's Basement, a unit of Value City Department Stores Inc. (VCD), and Harve Benard Ltd. to stand trial in a Massachusetts court for alleged false advertising of garments.
This ruling and the upcoming trial will help protect consumers by ensuring that the advertising and labeling of garments such as these will accurately reflect the materials used in garments," Gadsby Hannah LLP, the law firm representing the plaintiffs, said in a statement Friday.
In a case that dates back more than five years, Cashmere and Camel Hair Manufacturers' Institute, or CCMI, and textile manufacturer L.W. Packard & Co . had sued Harve Benard, Saks Fifth Avenue and Filene's for allegedly making and selling garments that were labeled as containing cashmere, but were found only to contain "trace levels."
The plaintiffs began purchasing random samples of Harve Benard garments in 1995 and gave them to cashmere identification and textile experts.
In court papers, plaintiffs said Harve Benard began making a line of women's blazers that were labeled as containing 70% wool, 20% nylon and 10% cashmere, portraying the blazers as "a luxurious blend of cashmere and wool," when less than 0.1% was found to be cashmere. In addition, plaintiffs said they found that 10% to 20% of the fibers in the garments were recycled.
The District Court had granted partial summary judgment in favor of the defendants, dismissing L.W. Packard's cashmere content and recycled claims for monetary damages, as well as CCMI's recycled cashmere claim for injunctive relief. CCMI and L.W. Packard had appealed the summary judgment.
A Saks representative declined to comment on the ruling Friday. Efforts to reach representatives at Filene's and Harve Benard were unsuccessful.
Source from Dow Jones.
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